Electrically-operated awning



sept. s, i925. l 1,552,637 H. FENSTER ELECTRI CALLY OPERATED AWNING Fild DSO. 24, 1921 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Amm/vir Sept. s, 1925. 1,552,687'

H.FENSTER ELECTRI CALLY OPERATED AWN I NG Filed Deo. 24, 1921 2 Sheets-sheet 2 o 0mm Patented Sept. 8, 1925,

UNITED STATESv ff' y issus? PATENT OFFICE.

\ HENRY FENSTER, OEEEOOKLYNQNEW YORK.

ELECTRICALLY-OPERATED A WNING.

Appiieanon mea Decembeim, 1921. smal No. 524,655.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY FENSTER, a citizen of Serbia, but having declared my intention to "become a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, borough` ofBrooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New YorkNhave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electrically-Operated Awnings, `of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to awnings such asy are 'commonly used on store fronts or the like, and it has particular reference to power means for operating such devices practically automatically, thus saving much time and labor otherwise spent by the storekeeper or porter. It will of course be understood that the device is well adapted for use inv connection with private residences and the awnings of other buildings as well as the fronts of business buildings along city streets. K

Among the objects of the invention is to provide a suitable motor such as an electric motor of the reversible type, for operating the winding shaft of an awning in either direction and to provide an automatic switch to stop the motor when the awning is rolled either up to its limit or unrolled to its open position, thus relieving the operator from any attention to the device beyond the mere act of start-ing the ino-tor and initiating the rolling or unrolling of the awning, a matter of but a moment or two and all done within thebuilding. It is therefore unnecessary for the operator to expose him self to the weather for Vmanipulating the awning vat any time and especially is this de* sirable when the weather is inclement and l when the awnings must frequently be adjusted because of the weather conditions.`

iVith the foregoii'ig and other objectsin view the invention consists inthe arrangement and combination of parts hereinafter described and claimed, and while thefinvention is not restricted to the exact details of construction disclosed or suggested herein, still for the purpose of illustrating arpractical embodiment thereof reference ishad toY the accompanying drawings, in which like reference characters designate the same 'parts in the several views, and inx which Figure `1 is al "vertical sectional view of a building wall, associated with which is my improvement including 'an awning frame,-

shown up in full lines and down in dot and .dash lines.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the masl terV switchen the line 3i-3 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary view of the same indicating the release of the switch blade.

Fig. 5 isa plan or face view of the master switch.

Fig. Gis a detail view of one of the dogs used in connection with the trigger mechanism of the master switch.

Fig., 7 is a diagram of the electric wiring.

Referring now more specifically to the drawings, 1() indicates an awning frame of any suitable construction supported in bearings 11 on the outside of the building wall.

12 and to which is secured the cuter or lowei` end portion of the awning 13 whose other end is secured to and rolled upon the winding shaft 14 journaled in bearings `15, all of which awning parts so far described are or may be of conventional nature. Vhile 0rdinarily the shaft is rotated by hand through means of a crank and rod and gear connections on the outside of the building, in this instance I provide a short shaft 16 extending horizontall through the wall and having mitre gea-rs 1 `connecting the outer end of the sainevwith the shaft 14, while the inner end offthe short shaft is connected throughmitre gears 18 with a worm shaft 19 journaled in bearings 2O fixed to the innel` wall surface. This shaft carries a worm gear 2,1 and also a worm 22. M is a reversible motor fixed adjacent to the shaft last described and is indicated as having a vertical shaft 23 with, a. worm 24 thereon `meshing with the worm gear 21.

25 ,indicates a cainor its equivalentfixed to a cam shaft 26 to which is fixed a worm gear 27 meshing `with the worin .22.' The gearing partsthus far described are so designed that the cam shaft 26 willmake one full'turnwhilerolling the awning up to its full distance or lowering it to its lowermost position. When the cam 25 thus reaches the limit of its movement in its rotation with the shaft 26 the point of the` cam bears` against the `movable contact or blade 28 ofV automatic or emergency switch. This switch during the operation of the motor is nor-I mally open.

The diagram of Fig. 7 indicates a suitable source of energy 29 from which lead positive and negative wires 8O and 8l respectively. The wire :30 leads to and beyond a manual switch 32 which may be described as being employed for starting the motor for winding up the awning. rlhis switch includes two buttons one for closing the circuit at the switch and the other for breaking the ci-rcuit at the switch in case the awning is desired to be stopped when only partially rolled up.

33 indicatesfa switchf similar toltheswitch 32 but included in an auxiliary li'ne 8O'l respecting the reversal of thermotor for rolling the awning down. The negative wire 3l; leading from the battery is common to both of the circuits andy 30?, andfthis line includes what' may" be termed a master switch 341 shown; in` detaill in Figs.. 31 tol 6i This4 switch includes ai fiXed terminal 35' to which the wire 3l is attached, and amovable\ blade. or member 3G, associated with whiclr is the'wirel. This blade is'adaptedf to be moved by the operators hand applied' to thevknob?,` against' the force offa spring 38,y for closing'theswitch. The blade furthermore has a rigidly attached nose or catch- 39 adapted toi be' snapped past and held" beneath. the anti-friction roller 40 journaled# onv a- ULShaped keeper 41 pivoted at 42fso'asftomove toward@ or from the switch blade or: catch. rlhis keeper is mounted within a: casing 43 in which is located an d electromagnet 44 havingr an armature whose f normali position is toward' the switch blade as'in Fig.A S-when the'magnet is deadl rlhefkeeper` 41' is' urged'away from the magnet: armature byimeansof a'spring 46 causing tlheiroller: 4Ofto` tale over the oatchi39i Vhen' the keeper is movedin this directionI the ends which the roller is mounted engage in notches 48y of a pair of'dogs 49*pivoted: at' 501within the casing on opposite sid'es of the keeper, thus causing'- the dogsto-be lifted s0 that their longer ends extend over the armature whereby the armature holds the dogs from4 swinging downward' and' the keeper from' releasing thel switchr blade underA the force of" the spring 38; The springs 51 tendingv toV hold? the armature extendedf are lighter than-thevsprings 46 so that" if t-he magnet should4 become deadI when the switch isf closed thekeeper will nevertheless move tothelpos-ition'of Fig; 3F

lifting the: dogs. In this position the roller 40extends far enough overthe point of-the catch' 39'to holdftlie switch bladein connectionl with' the; fixedI terminal rPhe magnetl 4#V isi'n" a; shunt circuit 52l from any' suitable" source of' energy' such as the battery 29, and in thisv shuntci'rcuitl isf referred= to located the safety switch above and off which' the" movable blade 28- is' a the point of 47`of? the axle on part. The keeper 4l is limited in its swinging movements by any suitable stop lugs 53 and 54 located on opposite sides thereof.

Having thus set forth a preferred mechanical construction, themethod of operationY ofthe device may be briefly stated as follows assuming that the awning is down andr-A istolbefraised: The switch 33 probably being found to be closed, t-he operators first act is to open the switch 33 so as to prevent any possibility of the motor being started in the opposite direction. The master switch at this time will be open, having been so thrownY automatically to stop the motor' at the end of the downward run', and likewise the switchV 32' will be found open- The operator closes the switch 32and then closes and holds the master switch closed momentarily, causing the motor to operate and wind up the awning; The safety switch' at 2S atthe beginningof'this operation necessarily'is closed, having been so actuatedby the cam 25 at the end of the motors last. run; Hence'it is necessary thatV the operator hold the master switch longenough for the motor to start its work and move the cam away from-the movable blade 28 and allowv the safety switch to'open. The operator will.` hear the click ofI the armature when the magnet de-energiZcs andv so he will know that he is free to leave the .mechanism perform-its own work in its'own time. dien the awning is rolled up to its limit and. the cam-25` againcomes around to its position as shown in F ig. 2 to close the shunt circuit, thc'closing of this circuit will energize the'magnet withdrawing the armature from beneath the dogs 49, and thus allowingthe main spring 38" to' throw open the master switchl and stop the motor. To roll the awning down* the operator will first break the upV circuit at 82 and close the down circuit at 33, and thus with the closing by hand ofthecircuit at the master switch the motorv will operate-in' the opposite direction untill stopped by they cam mechanism as above described@ It will'thus be seen that the operatbr on theinside of` the building` will'have' complete. control of the mechanism for rolling1t-he awning either up or down or for stopping the rolling at anydesiredfmid position, thestopping as last stated being eifectedby breaking the' active circuit at or asma'yrbe desired. Ordinarily however the awning will beV rolled completelyY in one way or the other, so that after the motor is started the operator need give no further attention` until the awning is to be operated the next time.

I: claim:

An aut'omatic controlsystem of the character set forth comprising a motor, a master switch in circuiti therewith to controlthe same, a solenoid to control: the master switch, said solenoid being connected in a circuit independent of the motor circuit, a. normally open switch in the solenoid circuit, and cam mea-ns for closing said switch operative by said motor so as to energize the solenoid to open the master switch and stop the motor, said master switch being closed manually to start the motor and retained closed manually until the motor has moved said cam means to open the 10 solenoid circuit thus permitting the master switch to remain closed until the end of the run of the motor as aforesaid. l

In testimony whereof I aix my ignature.

HENRY FENSTER. 

